Texas Congressman Says Warner Bros. Discovery’s Axing of Movies is ‘Predatory,’ Calls for Investigation
WBD has made headlines more than once in the past year for shelving projects that were essentially complete in favor of tax benefits.
Warner Bros. Discovery may have a crack legal team, but it would almost certainly prefer its name stop coming up in connection with governmental investigations. For example, in spring of this year a group of congresspeople asked the Department of Justice to investigate the company for anti-competitive business practices.
- Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro is calling for a look into WBD’s habit of shelving already-finished projects for tax benefits.
- WBD tried to kill the animated Looney Tunes movie “Coyote vs. Acme,” before reversing course after backlash.
- Castro calls the practice “outright hostile” to content creators, as WBD attempys to right its financial ship through essentially any methods necessary.
Why is WBD Under Fire From Congress?
One of the congressmen from the group that made the spring call for a closer look at WBD is Joaquin Castro (D-TX). This week, Castro took to the social media platform once known as Twitter to show his displeasure with WBD’s decision to axe another nearly-completed movie, this time the animated “Coyote vs. Acme.” Calling the decision “predatory” and “anti-competitive,” Castro urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into the practice of shelving projects by WBD.
The @WBD tactic of scrapping fully made films for tax breaks is predatory and anti-competitive.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) November 14, 2023
As the Justice Department and @FTC revise their antitrust guidelines they should review this conduct.
As someone remarked, it’s like burning down a building for the insurance money. https://t.co/Vb8vj3brD7
According to The Hollywood Reporter, WBD changed course in its decision to scrap the movie entirely. Instead, it will shop “Coyote vs. Acme” to other streaming outlets, giving it the chance to live again. However, this volte-face reportedly came only after several directors told their representatives to cancel meetings with WBD in solidarity with the creators of “Coyote vs. Acme,” which is the third already-shot film to be pulled from WBD’s release schedule after “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt.”
Will a Governmental Investigation Stop WBD From Canceling Movies That Are Already Finished?
Even if Castro’s calls for the FTC to step in lead to an investigation, the speed at which government moves dictates that any new rules governing these business practices are years away. That’s good news for WBD, but as the recent Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes show the solidarity of the creative community should not be underestimated.
THR reports that a text chain was created by directors after “Batgirl” was removed from the Max release schedule last year, when the streamer was still called HBO Max. That allowed directors to organize quickly once “Coyote vs. Acme” was announced as canceled, and their willingness to nix meetings with the studio helped convince WBD to shop the movie instead of moving to write it off on the company’s taxes.
It’s that kind of organizing action that may prevent WBD from engaging in the practice in the future. WBD CEO David Zaslav is so focused on improving the company’s finances that he’s made some truly tone-deaf moves in the past year, decisions that have not come back to haunt him because he’s accomplishing some of his most-stated goals; reversing WBD’s streaming losses, paying down debt and making Max profitable.
The creative talent behind projects made by WBD are not afraid to stand up to management, as was demonstrated when the Max update this spring caused writer and producer credits on the streamer to be replaced with a generic “creator” title. WBD had to re-open the hood on Max and fix that mistake after a justifiable clamor was raised by its creative partners.
Whether Congressman Castro’s call for an investigation leads to any governmental action against WBD remains doubtful, but content creators who are wronged when the company mothballs already-filmed movies still have recourse. As long as their peers are willing to stand in solidarity with them, they can force the company to at least try and sell their movies to other outlets instead of sending the numbers down to accounting to see what kind of tax write-off it can get.
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